Gunman on run after killing 5 in US

Authorities in the US state of Louisiana are searching for an "armed and dangerous" 21-year-old accused of killing his parents, a girl he was dating and her family in two separate shootings.

Dakota Theriot allegedly gunned down his 20-year-old girlfriend, Summer Ernest, as well as her 17-year-old brother Tanner Ernest and her father, 43-year-old Billy Ernest.

A 7-year-old took a baby out of the mobile house where the shooting occurred early on Saturday and ran, neighbours said.

Theriot then headed 30km away to his parents' trailer in Gonzales, where he allegedly shot and killed them.

Keith and Elizabeth Theriot were both 50.

Deputies arrived at the scene and were able to interview one of the victims before both died.

Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre said that information led authorities to zero in on the couple's son as a suspect.

Dakota Theriot is being sought on first-degree murder and other charges. He was believed to be driving a stolen 2004 Dodge Ram pickup, gray and silver in color.

Crystal DeYoung, Billy Ernest's sister, said that she Theriot had just started dating her niece, Summer Ernest.

"My family met him last weekend at a birthday party and didn't get good vibes from him," DeYoung said.

She said she wasn't sure how her niece and Theriot met, but that she believed the relationship was relatively new.

"My mom is a good judge of character and she just thought he was not good," DeYoung said of Theriot.

DeYoung said Summer and Tanner Ernest were two of Billy's three children. He was also raising his wife's



children.

DeYoung said Theriot doesn't have a vehicle and she's not sure how he ended up at the Ernest home on Saturday, but after the killings, he took off in her brother's truck.

DeYoung said her brother, niece and nephew were good people.

"They all had very good hearts. They trusted people too much," she said, as she began crying. "They all loved unconditionally."

Charlenne Bordelon, a neighbour, said Theriot was the older daughter's boyfriend and that he'd recently moved in with the family but she did not know him.

A Facebook page appearing to belong to Dakota Theriot was filled with defensive and sometimes angry posts.

He shared someone else's post in June that said "wish i could clear my mind jus for one day" (sic) with a sad face emoji.

In May, he reposted something saying, "If you have a problem with me, tell me. Not everyone else."

He also shared someone else's post that said, "I don't care what people say about me I know who I am and I don't have to prove anything to anyone".

Webre said Dakota had lived with his parents briefly but was asked to leave the residence and not return.